DETROIT (AP) — The Trump administration’s immigration enforcer is criticizing a Detroit judge’s decision to block the deportation of 1,400 Iraqis in the U.S.
Thomas Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, says the “vast majority” have criminal records and are a threat to the public.
The government might appeal any additional order that freezes the deportations past July 24. Justice Department lawyer William Silvis made that disclosure in court Thursday.
The government has argued that the immigration court, not federal Judge Mark Goldsmith, has jurisdiction over the Iraqi immigrants.
The immigrants, many of whom are Christian, fear their lives will be at risk in Iraq. The American Civil Liberties Union so far has persuaded Goldsmith to stop the deportations while the immigrants scramble to get their cases reopened in immigration court.
